Terminal clip



Oct. 24, 1950 E. F. HUBACKER 2,526,869

TERMINAL CLIP Filed Dec. 7, 1948 Patented Oct. 24, 1950 2,526,869 TERMINAL CLIP Earl F. Hubacker, Muskegon, Mich., assignor to Borg-Warner Corporation, Ghicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application December 7, 1948, Serial No. 63,927

5 Claims.

This invention relates in general to electrical terminal clips and is concerned with terminal clips particularly characterized as being of the snap-off and snap-on type.

Heretofore, in prior art terminal clips of this general class, difficulties have been encountered in obtaining a clip which will effectively provide a tight VContact without objectionable arcing after repeated removal from and replacement of the clip to the terminal. Moreover, the prior art terminal clips have been deficient in not providing a tight contact where the factor of vibrations of adjacent elements is introduced.

It is recognized that in the prior art numerous attempts have been made to provide a terminal Clip of this general class, but to the best of the applicants knowledge, only very few of the prior art structures have had limited successful application and have been accorded only limited commercial recognition. It is believed that this fact results from the deficiencies of the prior art structures, and their non-adaptability to effectively overcome the difficulties hereinbefore set forth.

The present improvement in terminal clips is directed to simplify the structural features thereof and their mode of operation while providing for an effective electrical contact between the clip and its related terminal which will overcome the deficiencies presently found in prior art structures.

It is, therefore, a particular object and accomplishment of this invention to providea terminal clip arranged for operations entailing the snapping on and snapping off of the clip from its related terminal while providing an effective electrical contact even after repeated operations of this character.

Another object and accomplishment of the in-` vention is to provide a terminal clipof the charactel` contemplated herein having structural features effecting a locked-up arrangement between the clip and its related terminal, thereby to withstand factors of vibration which normally have heretofore caused the prior art clips to loosen their contact.

The invention seeks, as a further object and accomplishment, to provide ,a terminal clip as. contemplated herein and characterized by an ar-` rangement of parts to more advantageously and satisfactorily perform the functions required of it and adapted to provide a compact unit which will successfully combine the factors ofstructural simplicity and durability, and yet be economical to manufacture.

Additional objects, features and advantages of theinvention disclosed herein will be apparent to persons skilled in the art after the construction and operation are understood from the Within description.

With these objects in view, together with others which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the novel construction, combination of parts and arrangement thereof,

vas illustrated in the drawing, and which will be more fully described hereinafter, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, which forms a part of this specification, wherein:

Fig. l is the elevational View of a terminal clip embodying the features of the invention and shown in its operative position associated with a conventional terminal;

Fig. 2 is an elevational View of the terminal clip frdepi'cted in Fig. 1Y and being taken substantially on the plane of the line 2 2 in Fig. l; and

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevational View of the terminal clip depicted in Fig. l and being taken substantially on the plane of the line 3-3y in Fig. 1. The vdrawing is to be understood as being more or less of a schematic character for the purpose of illustrating and disclosing a typical or preferred form of the improvements contemplatedv herein, and in the drawing like reference characters identify the same parts in the several views.

' Referring tothe drawing, particularly Fig. 1, I have illustrated the terminal clip with which the present invention is particularly concerned and designated in its entirety by the numeral 20, as beingl adjunctively employed, for example, to a conventional terminal designated in its entirety by the letter A.

A conventional terminal as at A may comprise a projecting stud member 2l having adjacent its end portions an annular groove 22, said project-'- ing stud member 2! normally being connected by any suitable means to a plate means (not shown) or any other similar means which, in some cases,.

may support one or more terminals as at A.

Suffice it to say, since the invention is not particularly concerned with the precise construction of the terminal as at A and/or its associated parts, they will not be further described in detail, and it is deemed su'icient for all intentions and purposes herein contained to show only portions thereof adjacent to and cooperating with the terminal clip contemplated herein. It is to be un-'- derstood that details ofconstruction of such terminalsas `at-A and their associated partsmay be;l

modified to suit particular conditions, and I do not wish to be limited to the .construction of these elements as set forth, except where such construction particularly concerns the invention contemplated herein.

Having thus described, by way of example, a possible adaptation of the terminal clip, and having described the general environment surrounding the adaptation, the specific yconstruction and cooperating functions of the parts of said terminal clip with which the present invention is particularly concerned, will now be described in detail.

In the exemplary embodiment of the invention depicted in Fig. l, the terminal clip 20 with which the present invention is particularly concerned comprises, in general, an electrical wire gripping portion 25 rst formed in an open convolution as as at A as having an annular groove 22, the terthe annular groove.

illustrated in full lines and arranged to receive and grip end portions of a suitable electric Wire upon the deformation of this portion to assume the position as shown in dotted lines at at 26, and a terminal contacting and locking portion 2'| formed integral with the electrical wire gripping portion 25 to define convolutions providing two legs 28 and 29 and a central terminal contacting means, the leg 29 being provided with an aperture 3| arranged to receive and be in intimate contact with portions of the stud member 2|, and the leg 28 being provided with an aperture 32 arranged to receive and be in intimate contact with portions of the stud member 2| particularly the annular groove 22, thereby to effect a locking action of the yclip to the terminal by the cooperative effort and relative disposition of the aperture 32 disposed in the leg 28, the annular groove 22, the central contact'means 38 and the aperture 3| disposed in the leg 29. It will be noted that the central terminal contacting means takes the particular form shown in Fig. 1 wherein it is apparent that in addition to the reverse bend this portion of the strip is also arcuately deformed in the direction of its thickness to define the concave seat which 'comprises the central contacting means. This seat engages the stud member A in frictional surface to surface contact so that the region 38 hugs the side of the stud as clearly shown in Fig. 3. An arrangement of this character provides a smooth and generally cylindrical surface for contact with the stud over a considerable area thereof.

In order to remove the terminal clip from its operative position as illustrated in Fig. 1, the extreme end portions of the leg 29 are caused to move upward slightly in the direction of the arrow 35 which will change the relative disposition of the aperture 32 with respect to the central contact means 3D which will relieve the wedging action facilitated by the normal angular disposition of the leg 29 `cooperating with the disposition of and the contact arrangement between the central portion 30 and the stud member 2|, thereby to permit slight movement to the right of portions of the leg 28 so that the part of the aperture 3| in contact with the annular groove 22 may be moved out andover the head portion 36 of the stud member 2|. all wedging action caused by the cooperative effort of the various parts as hereinbefore described and the balance of the clip may be `conveniently and easily withdrawn from the stud.

Replacement of the terminal clip to its operative position is advantageously accomplished by inserting the stud into the aperture 32 of the leg 29 and cause -the clip to be moved down- This nal action will conclude' minal clip disclosed herein may be employed to equal advantage with plane terminals without In this connection the spring-like action of the legs 28 and 29 to assume their angular disposition will cause the necessary wedging action to effectively lock the clip to the terminal in its operative position as hereinbefore described.

From the foregoing disclosure it may be observed that I have provided a terminal clip which efficiently fulfills the objects thereof as hereinbefore set forth and which provides numerous advantages which may be summarized as follows:

1. Structurally simple, efficient and durable;

2. Economical to manufacture and readily adaptable to mass production manufacturing principles; and

3. The provision of a terminal clip arranged for operations entailing the snapping on and snapping off of the clip from its related terminal while providing an effective electrical contact even after repeated operations of this character.

While I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but wish to avail myself of all changes within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A terminal clip formed of a single elongate blank to denne a wire gripping portion and a terminal contacting portion pendent from said gripping portion, said terminal contacting portion comprising a central terminal ycontacting region formedwby a reverse bend arranged between angularly disposed legs, said reverse bend having therein an arcuate seat inscribed upon a radius perpendicular to the axis of said reverse bend and effecting surface contact of substantial area with a related terminal, the relative disposition of the legs and the central terminal being arranged for cooperative effort of these elements to lock the clip to the terminal, said legs being manually movable toward each other to release the locking action for removal of theclip from its related terminal.

2. An electrical clip arranged to be removably secured to a terminal, comprising an electrical wire gripping portion, and a terminal contacting and locking portion defined by a plurality of reverse bends in an elongate strip providing two angularly disposed legs and a pair of arms intermediate said legs and joined by one of said bends, said joining bend being deformed inwardly and providing a central terminal contacting concave -seat in a plane between the legs, said legs each being apertured to receive and be in intimate contact with portions of the terminal at each side of said seat, whereby the relative disposition A of the legs and the central terminal contacting means and the cooperative effort of the legs and the central terminal contacting means effect a locking action of the clip to the terminal.

3. A clip for an electrical terminal stud cornprising an elongate strip having spaced reverse bends between its ends to provide an intermediate terminal contacting portion of generally U- shape and two diverging legs spaced therefrom, each leg having therein an aperture to receive the terminal stud and being integrally connected by a reverse bend to the end of an arm of the U-shape contacting portion; said U-shape portion being defined by a reverse bend of the strip intermediate of and oiset from the first-mentioned reverse bends; and an arcuate concave seat in said termina1 contacting portion, the axis of which seat intersects the axis of the reverse bend which defines said intermediate contacting portion, and the curvature of said seat comprising a segmental portion of a cylinder inscribed on a radius coaxial with the terminal stud for.

Number Name Date 661,126 Heany i Nov. 6, 1900 802,736 Cook Oct. 24, 1905 30 2,428,022 Harrison et a1. Sept. 30, 1947 tending in directions opposite to said intermediate bend, and the portions of the strip beyond said remaining two reverse bends deiining diverging legs with apertures therein to receive said terminal stud at locations which are spaced from opposite sides of said arcuate seat.

5. A clip for an electrical terminal stud comprising an elongate strip having a rst reverse bend intermediate its ends and defining a terminal contacting region of U-shape for substantial surface contact with the stud; an oppositely formed second reverse bend at each side of said first reverse bend dening diverging legs which are apertured to receive the terminal stud; said. reverse bends all lying within the planes of the longitudinal side edges of the strip, whereby said terminal contacting region and said apertured legs provide three contact regions with the terminal stud.

EARL YF. HUBACKEIR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

